What we say about customer service stories spreading like wildfire isn’t lip service – it’s a fact.
Case in point? Zulily got a ton of exposure from this Mashable post about a coat exchange – it was shared over 8,000 times in just a few days!
Pretty impressive; but when it comes to outrageous customer service…
Zulilly’s got nothing on Redbubble.
When my co-worker, Mandy, found out I was planning to write a post about Zulily, she shared a similar experience she had with Redbubble. I was absolutely floored by how responsive they were, and how well she was treated – so I asked her to share her story below:
Redbubble Delivers an AWESOME Customer Experience
My daughter found a t-shirt that she wanted for Christmas online, so she sent me a link to it.
I followed the link to Redbubble, an online marketplace for print-on-demand products based on user-submitted artwork. Cool concept, neat t-shirt, fair price. So I ordered it.
The shirt arrived before the scheduled delivery date, and I wrapped it for her to open on Christmas morning. When she tore the package open and tried the t-shirt on, though, it was a size too small. She was disappointed, but I assured her it would be no big deal to exchange it.
Silently, I groaned to myself: Here we go again – another online exchange nightmare:
- Fill out a return form.
- Buy a padded envelope.
- Pack up the t-shirt and pay to ship it back.
- Re-order the shirt in the correct size and pay separate shipping.
- Wait and hope that everything gets processed correctly.
So, I mentally prepared myself. I used my phone to access Redbubble’s site and start what I though would be a long, annoying process.
Except it wasn’t long. Or annoying. In fact, all I did was send a two-sentence email (you can read the thread below).
It was Christmas Day (which fell on a Friday), so I certainly didn’t expect to hear anything back from a customer service rep until at least Monday (after all, it was a holiday weekend).
Surprisingly, I received this response just a few hours later:
“Hi Mandy,
Thanks for getting a hold of us. Sorry to hear the awesome tee wasn’t a perfect fit after all. I’m here to put a smile on your face!
I’ve given our printing team the thumbs up, and your replacement tee is in the works…
Your replacement order should be with you by 11th January, and there’s no need to return the original order to us – feel free to gift it away or donate it to a charitable organisation.
Have an awesome rest of the day and Merry Christmas!”
It was a true Christmas miracle (for me, anyway!).
What was so awesome about my experience?
Let me count the ways:
- Amazingly fast response. Dee responded within a few hours ON CHRISTMAS DAY. We’re talking about a t-shirt here; I certainly wasn’t expecting a response until the next business day, at the earliest.
- Friendly service. Dee said that she was there to put a smile on my face. And she definitely did that (I’m even smiling right now as I type this).
- No hassles. With one email, she completely solved my problem. I received a replacement shirt with basically zero effort on my part (all I did was send a two-sentence email from my phone – how easy is that?). Redbubble could have asked me to fill out an exchange form and pay to ship back the original. But they didn’t.
- No suspicion, either. I was telling the truth, and they believed me. If you’ve ever tried to return or exchange something and were made to feel like a common criminal, you understand how important this is.
- Good CX karma. Dee created a ton of goodwill by asking me to gift away or donate the t-shirt to a charitable organization. In the interest of full disclosure, I will say that the t-shirt fit me perfectly, so I kept it for myself and wear it all the time (except not at the same time as my daughter, because, as Lauren informed me, “That would be weird, Mom.”).
Friendliness. Responsiveness. One-step resolution.
All from a company that pays it forward.
So today, we want to pay it forward. Help us spread the good word by sharing this post!